Mt. Olive Baptist Church
National Register Listing
Street Address:
301 Church Street, Mullins, SC (Marion County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817734007
Description and Narrative:
Mount Olive Baptist Church is a one-story brick cruciform building constructed between 1922 and 1926 with a complex hip and gable roof clad with composition shingles. Set upon a brick foundation with a protruding brick watertable, the sanctuary is a Late Gothic Revival building laid in five-to-one American or common bond. The church features twin corner towers of unequal height, a stained glass oculus above each entrance at the second level, a belfry containing four large pointed arch openings, and a large tripartite Gothic-arched leaded stained glass window flanked by stained glass lancet windows. The sanctuary is accessed from two vestibules within the tower structures. The ceiling, superbly crafted in miter-cornered beaded board planes, mirrors the complexity of the exterior hipped roof and culminates in a box-framed Greek cross. Wade Alston Ford, a young African-American architect from Lake View, South Carolina, designed the church and directed its construction between 1922 and 1926. The church was built with volunteer labor from five craftsmen who were members of the congregation. The church has been an important center of religious and civic activity for the African-American community of Mullins. Listed in the National Register June 15, 2000.
Period of Significance:
1922
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Ethnic Heritage: Black
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
June 15 2000
